The house LaBeija still lives on, thankfully, as evidenced by this music video for Pillar Point which features Kia LaBeija representing her House marvelously, dah’ling. Watching someone vogue is always entrancing. There’s such a fluidity and poise to the act, like a form of ballet that was born from a queer place. Setting this intriguing dance against the lush, color-filled streets of Bogotá and you’ve got a music video you can’t take your eyes off of. I’m so glad to see

Editor’s note: I do realize that my writing has been sporadic lately. I’m hoping to get back into it with more regularity.

The mundaneness of repeating task is often tedious, but what if it was actually something beautiful? Perhaps this is Moli Studio’s take on the matter? Their video Endless takes a mono-colored world and adds in a series of machines which perform random tasks. In the context of the video though they’re oddly hypnotizing.

ENDLESS is a story about seeking and not finding.
It’s the mechanized routine.
It’s to get up, go to work, eat, fall in love, buy, throw, fall out of love, accept, sleep, wake up.
ENDLESS is a story about seeking and (not) finding.

Lavender. It’s an incredible scent and color that’s unfortunately been abused by corporations, perverted into abysmal scents that linger in an Airwick “air freshener” or mangled into a dryer sheet. Lavender is an incredibly vivid plant that, when seen en masse, is actually quite stunning. Back in July, Stories In Motion filmed the lavender fields of Provence with stunning results.

What you see here is a *single* day of shooting with the DJI Phantom 3 by Joshua Karthik! This is the very first day we flew this amazing little quadcopter which in its 3rd iteration has revolutionised the way aerial cinematography is done – it is quick to set up, painless to operate and delivers mind blowing results.

If you’ve followed the site for a while you’ll know my favorite artist/designer is Geoff McFetridge. He’s been an inspiration to me since the early 2000’s and his style and aesthetic has certainly influenced my own. Monster Children sat down with McFetridge to speak about his past (working with Girl Skateboards, Grand Royal magazine, and XLarge) his process (which is extremely process driven and a bit OCD) and the themes that continue to show up in his work over and over.

Terms like “food porn” may have passed their heyday, perhaps “_______ porn” is a passé phrase anyhow, but it felt apropos for this short spot for Marks & Spencers by foodfilm. The piece employs time-lapse to great effect, showcasing the process of a meal, lots of macro close-ups so you truly connect to the food, plus high-contrast lighting which makes the food look fresh and delicious. Tying the whole video together are the hyper-cuts utilized which both unifies and invigorates the work, giving it a frenetic energy that you can’t turn away from.

The new episode of True Detective premiered last night and with it, a beautiful opening title that helps to set the tone and mood of this new universe. A washy mix of Los Angeles imagery and the A-List talent that stars in the show, the intro was masterfully constructed by Elastic, a graphics studio out of Santa Monica, CA. You probably know their title design work from shows like Halt and Catch Fire, Daredevil, and last year’s gorgeous Academy Awards. Watch it below.

December 16, 2014Comments Off on My Favorite “Vision of the Future”: ‘Wanderers’ a short film by Erik Wernquist readVideo

Being a science fiction fan I can always appreciate the concepts of people who envision the future. This is especially true of Wanderers, a short film crated by Erik Wernquist that explores what our future expansion into the Solar System could look like.

Although admittedly speculative, the visuals in the film are all based on scientific ideas and concepts of what our future in space might look like, if it ever happens. All the locations depicted in the film are digital recreations of actual places in the Solar System, built from real photos and map data where available.

There’s a subtlety to Erik’s film that sells it for me. While the locales are exotic the ships and suits are in the realm of believability. At parts it felt like it could be a poignant, artistic version of a Red Bull commercial, echoing the Stratos jump made by Felix Baumgartner.

I think the short beautifully encapsulates the ingenuity and creativity of man. If we can imagine incredible achievements such as these, why would they not be possible?

December 15, 2014Comments Off on My Favorite “Designer as Teacher”: Aaron Draplin Builds A Logo In 10 Minutes readDesign, Video

Portland based designer Aaron Draplin is well-known for his straightforward attitude and no-nonsense sense of design. You could even describe him as a “champion” for the design community, a person who has an immense output of quality designs, and by all accounts I’ve heard, one of the nicest and most supportive folks on earth.

Last week he took Lynda.com‘s logo design challenge, creating a really simple, strong mark in less than 10 minutes. He walks you through his process and his reasoning which gives you a fascinating look at how he gets from nothing to something. His confidence and the easy way he demonstrates his work makes you feel like you should go out and make 100 logos on your lunch hour. Love this guy.

December 3, 2014Comments Off on Warm Your Hearth and Home Digitally with Yule Log 2.0 readDesign, Illustration, Video

Yule Log is a website composed of a collection of short films created by illustrators, animators, directors, and creative coders, that wants to bring back the age old X-mas tradition. The site’s creator, Daniel Savage, did a version last year as well which was equally great. I’d rather put one of these fine pieces of art on my TV rather than watch A Christmas Carol on repeat for 24 hours.

October 29, 2014Comments Off on Every Frame A Painting: A Film Form Masterclass readFilms, Video

Dedicated to the analysis of film form, Every Frame a Painting is a fantastic series of video essays created by the filmmaker and editor Tony Zhou. As entertaining as they are insightful, his series of videos may well be one of my favorite discoveries on the internet.

Running for between 5 and 8 minutes, each video focuses on one filmmaker or one aspect of film form. While some people may feel that film form is quite a dull subject matter, Zhou’s essays are well and truly the opposite of this. They’re fun, engaging and informative.

Take for example texting and the internet in cinema. While we may be living in a digital age, film still seems to be somewhat ineffective in depicting this world on screen. In Zhou’s essay on the subject he presents us with how cinema has approached this conundrum and questions if a solution to their problem may lie not in its content, but in form. Check it out below and I’m sure you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about:

Perhaps Zhou’s most successful video to date has been his analysis of Edgar Wright’s approach to visual comedy. In his essay, Zhou looks at how the filmmaker consistently finds humor through framing, camera movement, editing, sound effects and music. Its a wonderful insight into how well designed Wrights films are, and Zhou does a fantastic job of articulating exactly how great Wright is as a director.

If you’re a fan of Tony’s work and you’d like to see his series continue you can support the project over on Patreon. If you’d like to see more from the series make sure to subscribe to his channel over on YouTube.